The Brightest Star
by SaneAsLuna
Summary: When Sirius Orion Black sat down in that train compartment with those three boys, his life changed forever and an era began. Through full moons and skipped classes, heartbreaks and undying loyalty, these boys became men, bringing light to all around them. But nothing lasts forever, and the thing about stars is that they burn the brightest just before they go out.
1. Chapter 1

_"Its something unpredictable, but in the end is right_

_I hope you had the time of your life."_

* * *

**June, 1977**

* * *

For the first time in seven years, the Marauders stared at each other in complete silence.

They were seated around a table in the Three Broomsticks, other Hogwarts' students chatting and milling around them.

"This is it then," James finally said, looking around at them solemnly. "The real world. It starts tomorrow."

"How many NEWTS do you lot thing you'll get?" Peter asked. "My papers were okay, but question six in the last paper was –"

"Oh, shut up Wormtail. Stop worrying for once in your life," Sirius snapped, clearly annoyed.

They dropped again into the gloomy, uncomfortable silence, each boy looking at his butterbeer.

"Hullo!" a voice called to them, and they looked to see Frank Longbottom approaching.

Remus looked up. "Hello, Frank. Alright, mate?"

"Yeah, I'm good. You guys okay?"

The rest of them nodded.

"You looked stressed Remus. Anything wrong?" Frank asked.

A mischievous smile played on Sirius's lips. "Oh, you know, his furry little problem is springing up again."

Frank nodded seriously. "I heard about that. My cousin had this cat who used to claw curtains and stuff, but he sent him to this rehabilitation centre for pets and now he's practically an angel."

"Who, the cat or the cousin?" James cut in, and they all chuckled.

"But, honestly mate, I could get you the address and all. What's – what's your rabbit's name?"

"Moony," Sirius immediately replied, the corner of his mouth twitching.

"Well, good luck, and see you guys tomorrow." Frank waved and left.

"Careful, Remus," Sirius said in a grave voice, "or we'll get you sent off to bunny rehab."

They all burst into laughter.

"You will never stop this, will you?" Remus asked wearily.

"Not until the stars fall from the sky," Sirius declared, half rising from his chair to get across the drama of his statement.

"Not until the heavens are no more," James added, and he and Sirius childishly high-fived.

"Hi Sirius," a Ravenclaw girl said nervously, she and her friends stopping by their table.

"Hello," Sirius replied, "uh..."

"Beth," Remus muttered under his breath.

"Hello, Beth," Sirius repeated, giving her a half-smirk that he knew girls died for. "Great to see you again."

"I just wanted to thank you for helping me with my transfiguration last week," she said, her cheeks reddening slightly.

"Don't mention it," Sirius replied smoothly. "It was a pleasure to be of assistance."

"So then... Bye?" She went on uncertainly, as if hoping that Sirius would invite her to join him for a drink, and then walked away when he didn't.

"You have got to stop with the girls," James chided.

"You know Prongs, you were worse than him," Remus cut in.

"Before he fell in luuuurrvvve," Sirius sang.

"Hi Lily!" Peter piped up, and, sure enough, Lily Evans, accompanied by her best friend Marlene McKinnon, was coming towards their table.

Sirius proceeded to loudly hum something resembling a band march as the two approached.

"Shut it, Sirius," Marlene said, pulling out a chair beside him.

He grinned at her. "Good to see you too, Mar."

"As always. Mother did say my presence tends to brighten the room."

"It lights up the sky," Lily called from across the table.

"Brings peace and happiness," Peter added jokingly.

"Scares off innocent children?" Sirius offered.

Marlene sharply elbowed his side, laughing with all of them.

They talked and laughed for a while more before heading back to the castle, walking through the village of Hogsmeade for the last time.

Sirius led the group, walking alone in the front, while James and Lily brought up the rear, arm in arm.

It was quite odd how quickly the two of them had fallen together, Sirius thought, since till the winter Lily had claimed hatred for James. Now they hardly spent a minute apart. It worried Sirius. A small, selfish part took unnecessary notice of the fact that James was spending less time with his friends, but mostly it scared him that James was so incredibly in love with Lily, and he didn't want his friend to get hurt. He trusted and liked Lily, and honestly believed she wouldn't hurt James, but, in all seventeen years of life he'd learnt that love would lead to pain, one way or another.

They headed to the Great Hall for dinner, and then back up to the Griffindor common room, where a party was beginning to take shape.

"Everyone below fifth year, UP!" James bellowed, motioning to the staircases.

Several people groaned. "Why should we listen to you?" a fourth year boy demanded.

"Because I'm Head Boy, that's why," James answered. "And you wouldn't want to spend the last day of school in detention."

Slowly, helped by Lily and Remus, the younger students left, and Sirius and Marlene began setting out food and drinks on a table. They had gone all out and robbed the kitchens, as well as bribing Rosmerta from the Three Broomsticks to sell them Firewhiskey.

A wireless was blasting music and soon people began dancing. Sirius found himself the object of some subtle and some not-so-subtle attractions, and he found extracting himself difficult; at one point a fifth year was walking around with him, death grip on his arm.

He spotted Marlene and mouthed a call for help to her. She seem amused at his discomfort, but eventually strolled over to them.

"I'd like a word, Sirius," she said, looking pointedly at the fifth year, who glared at her.

"Coming Mar," Sirius responded cheerfully, pulling at his arm, and the girl finally let go.

"Why do you always get me to rescue you?" Marlene asked him as they walked away. "There's plenty of other people."

"You're the scariest person I know," Sirius informed her.

She raised her eyebrows, giving him a flat look.

"Like that face," he went on, motioning to her. "Anyone else would run screaming in the other direction."

Marlene swatted at his arm and then turned around, groaning. "Ugh. Most of your fanclub is staring at us. They think I'm gonna be your next shag."

Sirius smirked at her, leaning in. "Want to confirm their suspicions?"

Marlene looked at him evenly. "Want to lose an arm?"

He burst out laughing, making her roll her eyes, and they headed over to join the rest of their friends.

"You know Lils," Sirius said several hours later, after the party had broken down, looking sideways at the girl sprawled on the floor beside him, eyes half closed. "You're not so bad."

She smiled slightly. "Im so glad I passed your competency test."

"Seriously. You'd definitely make it to my top five picks for Prongs. Maybe not number one, but I can guarantee top five."

Lily sat up straighter and glared at him as he burst into laughter. Her face gradually softened into a smile and she gazed at James lying a few feet away, where he'd passed out after a round of tabletop dancing with Sirius.

"You love him, don't you?" Sirius said quietly, all joking gone from his voice.

"Yeah," she said, then turned to him. "Look, Sirius, I know how much you lot mean to him and I'd never try to come between that."

"I'm not worried about that," he told her. "Its just that I've watched that boy fall for you so hard for so long and I'm afraid he'll never recover if you left."

"I won't leave."

"Don't promise things you can't control. It never works out well." It was a quiet statement.

Lily looked at him worriedly. "Siriu-"

He stood up. "I've got to pack."

Giving Lily a small wave, he headed up the stairs to the dormitory, where he passed the sleeping bodies of Peter, and a little further away, Remus.

All his stuff was still lying on or around his bed, the opposite of the the three other completely packed trunks of his friends. With a sigh he collapsed onto his bed, massaging his forehead.

He didn't know where he was going from King's Cross the next day. He would rather die than turn up back at Grimmauld Place, after how blatantly he'd left the previous year. Of course, Mrs Potter had written him two very long letters, saying she absolutely expected him back for the summer. And yet, even after the Potters' fierce efforts to count him in as part of the family, there was still a part of him that that shirked away from that affection.

Sighing, Sirius closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep.

The majority of Gryffindor tower was oblivious to the morning until Minerva McGonogall herself decided to aid the sun in awakening the students.

"Up!" she called, standing in the middle of the common room. "Up at once!"

Frank Longbottom squinted at her from across the room, then started once he realised who it was. One by one the students rose, descending from the stairs, standing up from the floor.

"Mr Filch tells me there has been an after hours party here, and he was stopped from investigating further because someone changed the password," Professor McGonogall's eyes rested on Sirius and Remus standing at the foot of the stairs. "furthermore, he tells me Firewhiskey was smuggled inside, and from the state of you, I cannot disagree with him. You will all march up to the hospital wing right now, where Madam Pomfrey will test you for alcohol. If you are guilty, you will be serving detention with me on the first of September instead of attending the feast."

A groan was heard throughout the body of students, though the seventh years exchanged triumphant smirks.

"Don't look so smug, Mr Potter, you and your fellows will also be travelling down here to serve my detention. If you want your NEWT result, that is. And Miss McKinnon," she added, glancing at Marlene, "please get yourself back to the Slytherin common room. I don't know why I always find you here."

"They don't party like the Gryffindors back where I'm from," Marlene said with an accent, giving Professor McGonogall a sheepish grin.

Everyone climbed back to their dormitories, getting their things completely ready to leave, then going down for breakfast, and to the hospital wing.

Dumbledore made his usual speech at the end of the feast, and then came time to leave.

Although he had no regard for romanticising stupid little things, Sirius couldn't help his eyes wandering over the familiar way the drapes fell around his bed, the walls that were still adorned with a calendar marking the full moon and pieces of parchment, the scuffed up door, with the gold nameplate reading 'The Marauders' in black lettering, hung up with a Permanent Sticking Charm. He wondered how long before Filch would give up trying to rip it up and just replace the door.

The seventh years were silent as they traipsed downstairs. It was one thing to be leaving Hogwarts, but to be doing so in such a dark time added a sense of grimness to the affair; none of them were sure of what they were walking into.

They said goodbye to the teachers, and to Hagrid, who walked them over to the carriages.

Once again they boarded the train, got into a compartment and sat down.

"Oh, cheer up, you lot," James finally said, breaking the silence. "We'll have the best summer in existence, and everything will be the same."

"Everything will be the same," Sirius echoed, gazing out at the fading landscape of Hogsmeade.


	2. Chapter 2

_"But I like to think I can cheat it all_  
_To make up for the times I've been cheated on._  
_And it's nice to know when I was left for dead_  
_I was found and now I don't roam these streets,_  
_I am not the ghost you are to me."_

* * *

"Here we are," James said as he and Sirius apparated in the middle of an empty field. Silently, the two boys started walking across it diagonally, dragging their trunks along, until they came to a small stone set in the grass, which they crossed and seemingly disappeared to any watching muggles.

Across the field rows of houses came into view. The Potters lived in a small countryside community where several pureblood families had homes, including the McKinnons, and Walburga's brother Cygnus Black. The whole area was secured by several spells and concealment charms.

They came up to the Potter house, a large stately red brick monument with a perfectly tended front lawn.

They walked up to the front door and James knocked on it impatiently, and it was opened by Mrs Potter a moment later.

"Boys!" she cried, enveloping both of them in a hug.

"Good to see you," Sirius said when she let go.

James kissed his mother on the cheek and walked past her into the house. "I'm starving."

"I've got enough food to feed an army, come along," Mrs Potter said, leading Sirius down the hall and into the large and airy kitchen.

She seated the two of them at the sleek wooden table and began stirring a pot whilst pastries stacked themselves on a plate, directed by her wand. Like her house, Helena Potter was a sophisticated combination of tradition and modernity; she had auburn hair pinned back delicately, hazel eyes identical to James's, and a sculpted yet soft face that seemed to age gracefully. A silver necklace, no doubt a family heirloom, glinted at her throat.

The tray of pastries brought themselves over to the table, where the two boys attacked.

Mrs Potter came and sat down with them, guiding over a small cake and tea cups that filled themselves.

"So, tell me, James, how high should my expectations be for your NEWTs?"

James looked up from his plate at her, eyes wide, mouth bulging with food, red tomato sauce on his chin. "Ahfinshfweylow."

She rolled her eyes. "How about you, Sirius? How'd you think you'll do?"

He swallowed his bite. " Okay, I guess. But I dunno about later. I heard the Ministry stopped training new aurors for the time-being."

"Yes, they did, because all of us are required in the field right now. There's a new disappearance almost every day."

"But now they need new aurors more than ever!" James spoke up, having finally swallowed his food. "And assisting would be pretty good training for us."

"Don't be absurd James, it isn't worth the risk." she snapped.

"Because allowing people to go missing is," he muttered.

Mrs Potter shot him a glare. "We're doing the best we can; the whole department's working overtime. And it would give me some piece of mind if I didn't have to worry about the two of you as well."

Footsteps clattered in the hallway, and the three of them looked up as Mr Potter walked into the kitchen.

"Hello lads," he said to the boys. "Alright?"

"Yes sir," the two of them chorused.

He leaned down to kiss his wife before picking up a piece of cake from her plate. "Mad-eye needs us both for that Knockturn Alley operation tonight."

Mrs Potter eyed James, who's ears had perked up at his father's words, and then turned away to whisper something to her husband, and the both of them got up and walked out into the hall after a moment.

"Oh, the agony, the pain, et tu brute, my own parents don't trust me!" James cried out, falling back onto his chair, clutching his heart.

Sirius kicked him as he stood up. "Should've never let you take Muggle Studies. You're way too inspired by that Shake-a-pear bloke."

James followed him up the staircase where the bedrooms were located. The two trunks had already been placed in the hall by the Potters' part-time, paid house-elf. Sirius's mother would've fainted at the very thought.

James hauled his into the first door on the right, while Sirius dragged the other into the room across where he'd stayed the previous summer. He discovered that Mrs Potter had taken up all measures to make the room feel as homey as possible; quidditch posters and photographs on the walls, Gryffindor hangings above the bed, even a small muggle motorcycle model on the nightstand. This gesture touched him the most, that she'd taken pains to find out what he'd liked, had went to the muggle shops for him.

Sirius stood in the middle of the room for a moment, tears blurring his vision. He thought of his room back at Grimmauld Place, the walls a battleground, red and gold instead of green and silver, motorbikes instead of brooms, and his mother's cold stare, watching, judging, disapproval in every breath. And here was Mrs Potter, who owed him nothing, yet welcomed him with open arms, loving, caring and so _accepting_.

"The whole wide world awaits us!" James sang, leaping into the room. He stopped when he saw Sirius furiously blinking back tears.

"Just some dust in my eyes," Sirius said gruffly, turning around, pretending to look for something in his trunk.

"Mate, er, erm," James cleared his throat. "Er, look you're in no way a burden or, or anything of the type. I mean, I obviously love having you around, and Mum and Dad more than me. You're a part of our family now."

"Er, thanks."

"Don't mention it."

A moment of extremely awkward silence, which Sirius broke by chucking a pillow at James. A wrestling match ensued.

* * *

A muggle record player churned out rock music, James wore a flowery apron and carefully stirred a brown concoction on the stove, while Sirius chopped vegetables, each one coming out a different size and shape.

"They're like snowflakes, see," he explained, holding up a particularly asymmetrical carrot. "Beautiful and unique."

"Just use your wand, Pads."

"I forgot to brush up on my culinary spells," he muttered, sticking a fork into the boiling pot of pasta.

After an hour of labour, they finally produced a dish of pasta and a salad, which they sat down to devour.

"Now, the piece-de-résistance," James announced, pulling out a bottle of his parents' Firewhiskey.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, before James said. "I don't want to just sit around while people die or go missing. I want to help. Even if they won't let us."

"They can't stop us. Legally, we can do what we want," Sirius pointed out.

"I, just, ugh, its so fucked up."

Sirius chuckled darkly. "Life is fucked up prongsie. But yeah, feeling helpless is the worst. It eats you alive."

"I'm worried about my parents, you guys. Lily." James hesitated a moment. "I - I want to ask her to marry me."

Sirius showed no surprise, looking at the odd expression James got on his face when he spoke of her.

He'd always found it strange, the confident, unwavering way James had loved Lily, long before they were together. James had always been slightly clumsy, awkward, over-excited, and girls found that endearing, but Sirius was the real charmer, smooth words that fell like poetry from his tongue, mysterious good looks, exciting and dangerous. Yet, in reality, it was James who was sure about love, believed in it, while to Sirius it was a chase, a game, much too demanding to take seriously. He supposed it had been the way James was brought up. When Sirius first visited the Potter household, he was thrown off completely by what he saw; Mr and Mrs Potter no doubt loved each other deeply, they were always touching, a comforting arm, fingers entwined, they seemed _aware_ of each other, a simultaneous existence. Sirius had barely even seen his own parents make proper eye contact.

"I think you're good for each other," Sirius finally said. "And right now, we need all the good we can get."


	3. Chapter 3

"_Say something, I'm giving up on you_

_I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you_

_Anywhere I would've followed you_

_Say something, I'm giving up on you"_

* * *

_**July, 1977**_

* * *

"Sirius, dear would you like more chicken?" Mrs Potter stood over the kitchen table, spatula in hand.

"No thanks," Sirius replied, smiling at her. "Its delicious though, I don't know what you do with it."

"Oi, stop buttering up the cook, mate," James said, poking Sirius with his fork. "Hurry up."

Gulping down the last bites on his plate, Sirius pushed away from the table and grabbed his broom.

"We'll be back for dinner," James informed Mrs Potter.

"I'll leave something out for you boys, I have the night shift."

James's brow furrowed. "How come? You already had it twice this week. You don't have it more than that normally."

"Normally people don't go missing without a trace." Mrs Potter eyed them over her tea cup. "And don't stay out too late."

"Mother, I'm an adult!"

"But not a very responsible one. Either of you."

Sirius pretended to look offended, and she laughed a warm laugh similar to James's, leaning over and patting both heads.

"C'mon, mate," James called, throwing his broom over his shoulder as Sirius followed him out the back door.

"Your lovah called in the night," James said conversationally.

Sirius choked back a laugh. "Pardon, my _what_?"

"Your lover. She was asking how you were doing, wondering if you'd like to get a drink sometime."

"Mate, what the hell?"

"Mary MacDonald. The one with blonde hair, always smiling, finds you endearing for some reason."

"I know who she is, just, I'm just not into her."

"No?" James said. "What about Vance? Emmeline Vance? I'm pretty sure you're already well acquainted with her."

"That was once, at a party. And I seem to remember you collapsing into her arms when Evans turned you down yet again," Sirius replied, wiping the smirk off of James's face.

"Alright, what about Amelia Bones?" James seemed to be reading off a mental list. "Or that Greengrass girl?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Stop trying to set me up, Prongs."

James held up his hands in defeat. "Just a suggestion."

They walked in silence to the meadow where a group of teenagers had already accumulated.

"James!" Lily cried out, disengaging from the crowd and running over to throw her arms around him, red hair flying behind her.

"Hey!" James laughed, catching her. "When did you get here?"

"I came to visit Marls," she said, leaning to kiss him.

Sirius glanced over to Marlene, standing at the side, miming vomiting at the display of affection. Marlene and Lily were nothing less than polar opposites but after Marlene had punched Snape in the face for following Lily around to all her classes in their fifth year, they had become inseparable, unlikely best friends. In fact, it was after that that Lily had started spending more time with James, since Marlene and him were extremely close childhood friends.

After greetings, they chose James and Marlene, easily the best Quidditch players, as team captains, and the rest lined up to be chosen.

Marlene went first. After a quick scrutiny of the crowd, she decided with a blunt, "I want Black."

Sirius winked at her. "Of course you do sweetheart, can't keep your eyes off me."

Marlene gave him the finger as James went on to pick Alfie McKinnon. When everyone was sorted, they had Sirius, Fabian Prewett and Alice Bones on Marlene's team, and Lily, Gideon Prewett, and Alfie McKinnon on James's.

After deciding on strategies, they flew up, Sirius guarding the single hoop on the stick as Marlene and Alice chased the Quaffle, Fabian trying to knock James off his broom.

"No fair!" James called out as they surrounded him, forcing him to toss the Quaffle to Lily, who promptly dropped it.

Marlene scored repeatedly, and by the end of the game everyone but her and James had collapsed onto the grass in laughter.

Fabian and Gideon were telling all who would listen about their sister Molly's newborn son, while Alice performed absurd stunts on her broom.

"Hey Al," Lily said suddenly. "Where'd you get the ring?"

With a flourish, standing on her broom in mid-air, Alice waved around her hand, showcasing a sparkling ruby on her fourth finger. "Frank asked me!" she squealed, looking very much like a pixie with her cropped hair and petite figure bouncing in excitement.

"Oh my God!" Lily cried, jumping up to tackle the brunette in a hug. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"To be honest, I was so caught up in playing I'd forgotten," she admitted sheepishly.

Sirius snorted back laughter, getting up to hug her. "Frank is so not getting out of this without a round of drinks on him."

"When're you getting married?" Marlene asked, her and James finally having broken away from the game.

"I don't know, though Frank's mother wants us to in the spring, I suppose."

"Well, would the future Mrs Longbottom like to go for a round of drinks?" Lily teased, making Alice blush scarlet, though look extremely pleased.

* * *

'_The darkness closed in, choking him, and he was forced to his knees, the weight pressing down on his chest, pressing until he felt like his heart was about to burst -'_

Gasping, Sirius woke up. He looked around at the darkened room, heart beating absurdly fast, trying to catch his breath.

He lay back, staring at the ceiling. He could lie to the Potters about how well he was coping, about how wonderful everything was, but the truth was he could barely sleep a night without those old nightmares, and his claustrophobia was coming in worse than ever.

He'd never told James, because he never told anyone anything, but one night in their dormitory James'd found Sirius jerk awake at night, taking deep breaths, trying to escape from the hangings around his bed like they were vines. Without comment, he'd tossed him the Invisibility Cloak and Sirius had ran to the Astronomy tower, desperate to be out in the open. From that night on, James always slept with the Cloak at the foot of his bed.

This was foundation of his and James's friendship, Sirius supposed, James's ability to trust, without having to know everything.

Sirius threw aside his blankets and leaped out of bed, darting to the window and pulling it open, leaning out into the cool night air.

He heard a tapping just underneath his window, and he looked to the ground, startled to see a figure there. Reaching out for his wand, he peered closer at the somewhat familiar hunching of shoulders and -

"Blimey!"

Without another thought, he grabbed his wand and rushed out the bedroom door, flew down the stairs and out the back door.

"Reg!?" he called, standing barefoot on the porch.

"Sirius," said a quiet voice from his left, and the cloaked figure came into the glow of the lightbulb.

Sirius stared at his brother. "What're you doing here?"

Face shadowed by the cloak, Regulus looked away. "You didn't come home."

"I said I wouldn't."

"I didn't think you meant it." There was a hint of regret in Regulus's voice.

Sirius cast a long look over his brother, the way he stood slightly hunched, stiffening one shoulder, clenching his sleeves, trying to hide his face. "They hurt you again," he said quietly.

Regulus didn't answer.

"Show me."

"Its noth - ,"

"I said, _show me._"

Regulus glared at Sirius, then pulled back the hood, revealing a blackened eye and a bruised jaw.

Sirius took in the injuries, jaw clenched. "And your shoulder?"

"The bookshelf fell on me, just a sprain, nothing bad."

"Dammit Reg, I told you to get the fuck away from that house!"

"They're our _parents_!"

"That never stopped them from using the cruciatus curse on me, or locking us up in the attic when we didnt use the right damned fork!" Sirius was positively fuming, memories of his parents filling up his head. "Look, the time I spent with them was the worst in my life, and, and, Reg -," Looking at his brother, voice somewhat breaking, he tried to reason, "we didnt have a childhood, not like children have, it was rules, rules, and all that fucking pureblood mania, but you can get away, come live with me…"

Regulus looked away from Sirius, biting his lip. "I can't."

Sirius stared at him, bewildered. "Why not?"

He still refused to meet his eyes. "I just _can't_."

Sirius's gaze travelled down to his brother's left hand, clenching the sleeve of his robes, knuckles white. "Regulus," he said, voice dangerously low. "Show me your arm."

Regulus's said nothing.

Sirius's head was spinning suddenly, fear enveloping him. He closed his eyes for a moment. "Show me your arm," he croaked.

Silently, furtively, face white, Regulus shook his head.

"Show me your arm, dammit!"

Slowly, Regulus, drew up the cloth to his elbow, revealing pale skin marked with bruises and cuts, and -

It was like bricks thrown at his lungs. Sirius stared at the twisting black snake, the skull, for a long moment. Then at his brother's scared and strangely defiant face. Somewhere, dully, in the back of his mind realised he had completely failed as a brother.

He couldn't find words. He couldn't look at him anymore. "Go," he choked out, and turned around to stumble back into the house.


End file.
